Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Super Colts are in the Super Bowl, and we at The Villages couldn’t be more excited! For the past several years, the Indianapolis Colts have generously supported The Villages’ life-changing. From summer camp scholarships to filming our PSA…the Colts have proven to be true Champions for Children!

Indianapolis Colts former head coach, Tony Dungy, and current head coach, Jim Caldwell, have helped spread the word about The Villages by acting as a spokes person in our commercials and public service announcements. Both coaches encouraged families to open their hearts and homes to Villages’ child and become foster parents…by joining a team of champions.

Coach Tony Dungy poses for a picture with The Villages children after filming the 2007 commerical.

Coach Jim Caldwell brings The Villages children in for a post commerical huddle

In the summer of 2009, Villages’ children received camperships to attend Indianapolis Colts Defensive End, Dwight Freeney’s football camp. This three day long camp gave the children the opportunity to hone their football skills, interact with Dwight Freeney and meet some of Freeney’s Colts team mates, including Peyton Manning and Dallas Clark. The children learned important lesson that can be used on and off the field!

The Villages President and CEO, Sharon Pierce, and Director of Development, Katee Franson, gets their picture with Dwight Freeney at a post camp reception

Support from the Colts doesn’t end with the coaches and players. The Indianapolis Colts Women’s Organization have sponsored The Villages golf tournament for the past two years. Their financial support enabled us to raise critical funds needed to support our services and program for children recovering from the painful childhood trauma of abuse and neglect.

On behalf of 1,400 children The Villages supports each and every day … we wish the Indianapolis Colts the best of luck on Sunday! We are honored to have you as partners and we thank you for being Champions for our Children!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Mighty Ducks is a phenomenal movie about joining together as a team of individuals. Some of you may know about this movie. At first, the kids are brought together as a group of individuals. Some of them had been on a Minnesota hockey team; others came in sporadically, hoping to join the clique of previous brothers. This proved to be both challenging and disheartening. Finally, the group of players was forced to truly join together as a new team. Yes, they were all individuals from different parts of the world, yet they were bonded through the USA team, through the Mighty Ducks team. This team, through all its up’s and down’s, through all its growth and hardships, is only able to succeed by coming together as a brotherhood. They can only become champions if they “fly together.”

photo courtesy of http://ducks.jp.land.to/d2teamphot.jpg

In this same way, The Villages believes that we can all become champions for children if we come together. As Indiana’s largest accredited not-for-profit child and family services organization, we cannot do it by ourselves. We cannot change the world alone. Vulnerable children, children such as those who make up The Mighty Ducks, are in need throughout Indiana. We have recognized this need and are now calling on you to help us answer the need. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Together, we can do anything.

This month The Villages is hosting “Pack the House for Charity” night on February 28th. Tickets are on sale for $9.00, and $5.00 goes to Prevent Child Abuse Indiana. Last year, we raised over $12,000 for the children. Help us to raise even more this year! Visit our website at http://www.villageskids.org/indexnews5.php or call us at 800.874.6880.